Final answer:
A dependent variable is the outcome being measured in an experiment, affected by the manipulation of the independent variable, and is plotted along the y-axis in a graph.
Step-by-step explanation:
The best description of a dependent variable is A) Outcome being measured. In scientific experiments, this is the variable that is affected by another variable, known as the independent variable.
The dependent variable is also referred to as the outcome variable because it is expected to change as a function of the independent variable. It is often the variable that researchers are most interested in measuring or observing changes in. A common way to visualize this is by plotting the dependent variable along the y-axis of a graph.
Researchers manipulate the independent variable to observe the effects on the dependent variable. For example, in a sociological study looking at education and social class, the level of education would be the independent variable, and the social class would be the dependent variable, with researchers examining how changes in the former affect the latter.